University Pediatric Dentistry Clinic Research Articles

Factors that influence parental satisfaction with SDF treatment in healthy children and those with special health care needs

PurposeSilver diamine fluoride (SDF) is used as a caries management agent for the arrest of dentinal caries lesions. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the satisfaction with SDF treatment provided at a university pediatric dentistry clinic, and to identify factors that may contribute to parental dissatisfaction.MethodsWe obtained retrospective data of children who received SDF treatment at our clinic from February 1st, 2019 to February 28th, 2021. Parents were contacted by phone to participate in a survey that evaluated their satisfaction with the treatment. Satisfaction was evaluated as a function of medical status, ease of treatment, outcome of SDF treatment, esthetics, and understanding of the treatment's goals and side effects using contingency tables and chi-square statistics.ResultsFrom 209 children who received SDF treatment, we were able to contact 91 parents by telephone, and 79 agreed to participate. Special healthcare needs (SHCN) patients were over represented in our sample, comprising 22.3% of all treated and 36.7% of participants. More than 90% were satisfied with the treatment, would do it again and would recommend it to others. Among the 49 children who complained of pain, SDF treatment resolved 82% of these complaints. In the subsample with follow-up in our clinic, approximately half of the treated teeth later received restorative treatment or were extracted, and the other half presented without further treatment. Some children received further treatment elsewhere. Parental dissatisfaction was related to staining of the anterior teeth (p = 0.04), the need for further treatment (p = 0.02) and a lesser understanding of side effects (p = 0.002).ConclusionMost parents were satisfied with SDF therapy as a dental treatment choice due to its easy application and desensitizing effects. Our findings indicate that parental understanding of the interim nature of the treatment and staining of the lesions are important to achieve parental satisfaction.

Caries arrest using silver diamine fluoride: Knowledge, attitude, and perception of parents in Saudi Arabia.

The objective was to assess the current knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions of parents toward the use of Silver Diamine Fluoride in children's primary teeth and identify related factors. In this cross-sectional study, data were collected from Parents of pediatric patients who had appointments at the King Saud University Pediatric Dentistry Clinic and several private clinics in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia from Jan to April 2021. A simple random sampling method was used. An electronic questionnaire was designed to collect data regarding participants' demographics and their knowledge, attitude, and perception toward the use of SDF for their children. A higher proportion of parents/relatives (87.3%) was strongly satisfied with the speed of treatment and its benefits. In terms of disadvantages, 23.8% and 30.4% of the parents/relatives were satisfied and dissatisfied, respectively (P < 0.05). Regarding attitudes, the majority of participants 22.8% responded as neutral to using SDF to treat their children's anterior primary teeth (P < 0.05), whereas 32.2% agreed to the use of SDF in their children's posterior primary teeth (P < 0.05). A higher proportion of parents/relatives who were in the age group of >50 years (27.8%) had responded as "satisfied" compared with the responses of other age groups (P < 0.05). The present study demonstrates that SDF is acceptable among Saudi parents/relatives to arrest dental caries. However, pigmentation of anterior teeth is a major concern.

Do Maternal Beliefs, Knowledge and Practices for Own and Young Child Oral Care Reflect on Actual Child Oral Health?

The aim of the present study was to evaluate whether mother's oral health habits and knowledge for child oral care actually reflect on her young child's oral health and hence sought for direct evidence for this association. One hundred mothers accompanied their children, aged 2-5 years to a University Pediatric Dentistry Clinic and completed a three-arm questionnaire. Child dental caries (decayed, missing, filled surfaces-dmfs) and gingival bleeding index (GBI) were recorded. Correlations were sought by the analysis of variance (ANOVA). A negative correlation was observed between maternal education and family income with child dmfs (p < 0.01). Additionally, other maternal factors such as age and correct knowledge of the appropriate age for a child's first dental visit, the initiation of toothbrushing, and fluoride exposure were positively associated with lower dmfs and GBI. Additionally, some maternal practices also contributed to these results. Maternal practices and knowledge are predictors of child oral health. Mothers-to-be, especially those with low socioeconomic characteristics, should be involved in dental education and motivation interventions in order to practice proper oral hygiene for their children.

Retrospective evaluation of patients admitted to Karadeniz Technical University Pediatric Dentistry clinic due to trauma

Traumatic dental injuries are among the commonly observed problems in the primary and permanent teeth. The rate of prevalence of dental trauma varies globally. In this study, we investigated the type of dental trauma, related factors, and treatment procedures in children. During a 5-year period (January 2011-January 2016), 416 children aged in the range of 1-15 years were admitted to our clinic with dental trauma. The cause and type of the dental trauma in the primary and permanent teeth and their relation with gender and age were evaluated using the chi-square test, and their distribution by age was evaluated using regression analysis. Overall, girls and boys comprised 37% and 63% of the study population, respectively. The mean age was 8.5 years. Falls (61.1%) were the most common cause of traumatic dental injuries, and enamel-dentin fracture (26%) was the most common dental trauma type. Traumatic dental injuries in children are common. A large proportion of patients without any clinical symptoms (15.8%) did not seek any treatment after the trauma. Teachers, parents, and children should be informed about the action to be taken when dental trauma occurs and about the importance of immediately taking the child to a dentist after the trauma to ensure an accurate diagnosis, an optimal treatment plan, and positive outcome.

Evaluation of Patients Admitted to Karadeniz Technical University Pediatric Dentistry Clinic Due to Trauma: Retrospective Research

Evaluation of Patients Admitted to Karadeniz Technical University Pediatric Dentistry Clinic Due to Trauma: Retrospective Research

Parental perceptions and acceptance of silver diamine fluoride staining

BackgroundThe caries arrest that can be achieved by using silver diamine fluoride (SDF) offers a minimally invasive and inexpensive alternative to traditional restorative caries treatment. The authors evaluated how the dentinal staining that is associated with SDF influences the acceptance of this treatment among parents of young children in the New York City metropolitan area. MethodsThe authors invited the parents of children who had experienced dental caries and who had appointments at the New York University Pediatric Dentistry Clinic and at several private clinics in New Jersey to participate in a Web-based survey designed to assess parents’ demographics, perceptions of photographs of SDF-treated carious teeth, and acceptability of treatment in different behavior management scenarios. ResultsNinety-eight mothers and 22 fathers from diverse backgrounds participated. Most parents (67.5%) judged SDF staining on the posterior teeth to be esthetically tolerable, but only 29.7% of parents made this same judgment about anterior teeth (P < .001). In the absence of their child having behavioral barriers to conventional restorations, 53.6% of parents reported that they were likely to choose SDF to treat their child’s posterior teeth, but only 26.9% of parents were likely to choose SDF to treat their child’s anterior teeth. As the number of children’s behavioral barriers increased, so did the parents’ level of acceptance. In extreme cases, in which parents had to decide whether their children should undergo general anesthesia during treatment, parents’ acceptance rate of SDF as a treatment method increased to 68.5% on posterior teeth and to 60.3% on anterior teeth. Parents’ acceptance of the treatment also varied according to their socioeconomic status. ConclusionsStaining on posterior teeth was more acceptable than staining on anterior teeth. Although staining on anterior teeth was undesirable, most parents preferred this option to advanced behavioral techniques such as sedation or general anesthesia. Practical ImplicationsClinicians need to understand parental sensitivities regarding the staining effect of SDF to plan adequately for the use of SDF as a method of caries management in pediatric patients.

Caries Risk Assessment Item Importance: Risk Designation and Caries Status in Children under Age 6.

Caries risk assessment (CRA) is widely recommended for dental caries management. Little is known regarding how practitioners use individual CRA items to determine risk and which individual items independently predict clinical outcomes in children under age 6-years. Assess the relative importance of pediatric CRA items in dental providers' decision-making regarding patient risk and in association with clinically evident caries, cross-sectionally and longitudinally. CRA information was abstracted retrospectively from electronic patient records of children initially ages 6-72 months at a university pediatric dentistry clinic (N=3810 baseline; N=1315 with follow-up). The 17-item CRA form included caries risk indicators, caries protective items, and clinical indicators. Conditional random forests classification trees were implemented to identify and assign variable importance to CRA items independently associated with baseline high-risk designation, baseline evident tooth decay, and follow-up evident decay. Thirteen individual CRA items, including all clinical indicators and all but one risk indicator, were independently and statistically significantly associated with student/resident providers' caries-risk designation. Provider-assigned baseline risk category was strongly associated with follow-up decay, which increased from low (20.4%), moderate (30.6%), to high/extreme risk patients (68.7%). Of baseline CRA items, before adjustment 12 were associated with baseline decay and 7 with decay at follow-up; however, in the conditional random forests models, only the clinical indicators (evident decay, dental plaque, and recent restoration placement) and one risk indicator (frequent snacking) were independently and statistically significantly associated with future disease, for which baseline evident decay was the strongest predictor. In this predominantly high-risk population under caries-preventive care, more individual CRA items were independently associated with providers' risk determination than with future caries status. These university dental providers considered many items in decision-making regarding patient risk, suggesting that in turn, these comprehensive CRA forms could also aid individualized care, linking risk assessment to disease management.

Dental fear and anxiety among children and their caregivers

Abstract Introduction: Dental treatment is an experience that elicits fear and anxiety in most people, and particularly in children. This fear is the first step to be overcome in the search for a satisfactory dentist-patient relationship. Aim: of this research was to assess fear and anxiety among children and their caregivers when faced with dental treatment and identify the main reasons behind these behaviors. Methodology: About 200 questionnaires consisting of nine multiple-choice questions and one open-ended question, to obtain additional information, were administered to male and female patients aged 4 to 13 years who were treated at a university pediatric dentistry clinic and to their respective caregivers. Results: show only one-third of children reported fear of the dentist. Pain, needles, and anesthesia were the main reasons behind their feelings of fear. Over 70% of interviewed children reported having experienced tooth pain at least once, which reinforces the importance of painful experiences as being associated with dental fear in a portion of these patients. Conclusion: that although dental fear was uncommon among caregivers, approximately one-third of children reported fear of the dentist, associated with perceived pain or needle phobia. Key words: Dental Anxiety. Fear. Child. Questionnaires. Caregivers.

Prevalence of black stain and dental caries in children attending a university pediatric dentistry clinic in Istanbul

Amac: Bu calismanin amaci Istanbul’da bir universite pedodonti klinigine basvuran cocuklarda siyah dissal renklesme ve dis curugu prevalansinin literaturdeki diger ulkelerle karsilastirilmasidir. Yontem: Istanbul ilinde yasayan bes ila on uc yas arasinda dis tedavisi icin Marmara Universitesi Pedodonti klinigine basvuran; 325 (167 erkek, 158 kiz) cocuktan olusan calisma grubunda siyah dissal renklesme varligi ve dis curugu Dunya Saglik Orgutu df-t/ DMF-T indeksiyle degerlendirildi. Bulgular: Siyah dissal renklesme 60 (27 erkek, 33 kiz) cocukta, grubun %18.5’inde saptandi. Ortalama df-t ve DMF-T degerleri siyah dissal renklesmesi olan cocuklar (3.67± 3.25;1.39±1.68) ile siyah dissal renklesmesi olmayan cocuklar (4.29±3.48;1.79± 2) arasinda fark gostermedi (p> 0.05). Siyah dissal renklesmesi olan ve olmayan cocuklarin sayisi DMF-T ve df-t degerlerine, cinsiyete, ebeveyn egitim seviyesine ve dis fircalama sikligina gore fark gostermedi (p> 0.05). Sonuclar: Ortalama df-t ve DMF-T degerleri, siyah dissal renklesmesi olan ve olmayan cocuklar arasinda anlamli fark gostermedi. Siyah dissal renklesme ile df-t ve DMF-T degerleri arasinda anlamli iliski saptanmadi. Calismamiza dahil olan cocuklarda siyah dissal renklesme prevalansi literaturdeki Brezilya, Italya, Almanya, Ispanya, Polonya, Filipinler, Hindistan, Yunanistan ve Cin’deki cocuklardakinden daha yuksek, Isvicre ve Birlesik Krallik’taki cocuklardakinden daha dusuk bulundu.

Perception of parents of children with and without disabilities about teething disturbances and practices adopted

Aim: To evaluate and compare the perception of parents of children with and without disabilities about the occurrence of local and systemic manifestations during the eruption of primary teeth and to investigate the parents’ practices used to alleviate teething disturbances. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in a sample of parents of children without disabilities (GI) and parents of children with disabilities (GII) treated at a University Pediatric Dentistry Clinic. Data from GI and GII were collected using a structured questionnaire applied during an interview with the parents, and were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Mann-Whitney and Wilcoxon tests were employed and the level of significance was set at p<0.05. Results: The questionnaires were filled out by 86 parents, being 45 in GI and 41 in GII. For GI, the most frequent local manifestations were edema around the tooth (84.44%) and increased suction (75.56%); and for GII were edema and erythema around the tooth (78.05% and 70.73%, respectively). The most frequent systemic manifestations, according to parents of both groups, were irritability and fever. There was no statistically significant difference between groups (p<0.05). It was observed that 46.66% and 68.3% of parents of GI and GII, respectively, adopted different practices to alleviate teething disturbances. Conclusions: During primary teeth eruption, local and systemic manifestations may occur and different practices were adopted by the Interviewed parents, mainly those with children with disabilities.

Perception of parents of children with and without disabilities about teething disturbances and practices adopted

Aim: To evaluate and compare the perception of parents of children with and without disabilities about the occurrence of local and systemic manifestations during the eruption of primary teeth and to investigate the parents’ practices used to alleviate teething disturbances. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in a sample of parents of children without disabilities (GI) and parents of children with disabilities (GII) treated at a University Pediatric Dentistry Clinic. Data from GI and GII were collected using a structured questionnaire applied during an interview with the parents, and were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Mann-Whitney and Wilcoxon tests were employed and the level of significance was set at p<0.05. Results: The questionnaires were filled out by 86 parents, being 45 in GI and 41 in GII. For GI, the most frequent local manifestations were edema around the tooth (84.44%) and increased suction (75.56%); and for GII were edema and erythema around the tooth (78.05% and 70.73%, respectively). The most frequent systemic manifestations, according to parents of both groups, were irritability and fever. There was no statistically significant difference between groups (p<0.05). It was observed that 46.66% and 68.3% of parents of GI and GII, respectively, adopted different practices to alleviate teething disturbances. Conclusions: During primary teeth eruption, local and systemic manifestations may occur and different practices were adopted by the Interviewed parents, mainly those with children with disabilities.

Parental knowledge and attitudes regarding the emergency treatment of avulsed permanent teeth

The aim of this study was to examine parental knowledge and attitudes about avulsed permanent teeth and their emergency treatment in children. A total of 289 parents of children aged 6-12 years receiving care at the Ondokuz Mayis University Pediatric Dentistry Clinic were included in the study. Questionnaires were used to collect data on parents' demographic characteristics, previous training in traumatic dental injury and treatment and knowledge of avulsed permanent teeth and their emergency management. Chi-square tests were used to identify differences in responses for different variables. More than half of the participating parents were female (69.6%) and between the age of 30-39 years (64.4%). Most (90.7%) reported that they would not replant the avulsed tooth in its socket, and most (68.2%) gave correct answers regarding the optimum time for which an avulsed tooth should be left out of the mouth prior to replantation. However, most parents were not sufficiently informed about the appropriate method for cleaning a dirty avulsed tooth or transporting it to a dentist or doctor. None of the demographic characteristics or training status was found to have a statistically significant effect on the number of correct responses regarding appropriate management of avulsion injuries (P>.05) This study revealed that the parental level of knowledge about the emergency treatment of avulsion in children is inadequate and that educational campaigns are necessary to improve proper emergency management of dental avulsion.

Dental emergencies in a university pediatric dentistry clinic: a retrospective study

A significant number of children visit a dentist for the first time due to emergency situations. However, little is known regarding the prevalence, etiology, and treatment provided for children at emergency dental visits. This study aimed to evaluate the profile of children attending a dental school emergency clinic, the reasons for seeking dental care, and the treatment provided. Records of 270 patients who attended an emergency clinic during 2010 were analyzed, and 253 were selected. Demographic, diagnostic, and procedural information was collected. The mean child age was 7.8 years. For 208 children (82%), pain was the main reason for the emergency visit. Nearly 79% of the visits were due to caries, and the most frequently required treatment was endodontic intervention (31.22%). Of the decayed teeth, 61.70% were primary posterior teeth and 31.9% permanent posterior teeth. Pain caused by dental decay was the most frequent chief complaint. A large number of children were brought to the dentist with complaints that had started long before, for which over-the-counter medications had been used.

Confirming Nasal Airway Dimensions Observed on Panoramic and Posterior-Anterior Cephalometric Radiographs Using An Acoustic Rhinometer

This study aimed to confirm the nasal airway dimensions observed in standard dental radiographs through analysis of the anterior nasal cross-sectional area and nasal volume with acoustic rhinometry. Participants were chosen from the patient population under consideration for interceptive orthodontic treatment at Tufts University's Pediatric Dentistry Clinic. A total of 55 Caucasian subjects, of both sexes (males=28, females =27), and ranging from age 6-9 years (mean= 7.33) were enrolled. Utilizing the ImageJ program, the subjects' panoramic and PA cephalometric radiographs were analyzed for radiolucent anterior nasal cross-sectional area. Subjects were then examined with the Eccovision Acoustic Rhinometer, which measured anterior nasal cross-sectional area and nasal volume. Data were grouped together, and areas and volume gathered from the radiographs and rhinometer analyzed for any correlation. Statistical analysis was performed using the SPSS program. Data was further divided into right and left nasal side, and a Pearson Correlation Matrix was created for 8 predictor variables (right and left panoramic area, right and left cephalometric area, right and left rhinometer area, and right and left rhinometer volume). Values in this correlation matrix ranged from 0.712 to 0.988; all were statistically significant at the <0.01 level (2-tailed test). A very strong correlation was found between the anterior nasal cross-sectional area calculated from the radiographs, and the anterior nasal cross-sectional area and nasal volume from the rhinometer.